From Bob Dunning's Substack Column:

Okay, raise your hand if you've never heard of Mercer.

Turns out Mercer, a private university, was founded in 1833, a full 17 years before California became a state. Affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Mercer has a strong academic reputation in the Deep South as the oldest college in the state of Georgia.

Because the FCS Kickoff will force the Aggies to play their first three games on the road, Plough indicated the risk/benefit debate landed squarely on the side of benefit.

"We could have played a home game instead, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to grow this university on national television as one of the few games this weekend. I hope everyone sees our gold helmets and hears all about UC Davis. We'll find out if we have the ability to play winning football in a tough environment against a nationally ranked team in a place we've never been before. I know we're talented and we're capable, but can we do it when they turn the lights on?"

Though both teams are from out of state, for unexplained reasons Mercer will serve as the home team, which means the Aggies will get to call the coin toss and Mercer personnel will be in charge of serving box lunches in the press box.

Whole article here: https://www.thewaryone.com/p/aggies-arrive-in-montgomery-ready?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2582284&post_id=171529386&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Excellent article about Big Sky football:

https://www.si.com/college-football/how-big-sky-staying-true-old-school-roots-modern-college-football-world

From the Hornet Football Forum:

Sac State just doesn’t have the money. This latest pivot to potentially build the stadium around the existing horse racing grandstand at Cal Expo confirms we have a university president who is flying by the seat of his pants to make something happen, and this reeks of more desperation.

I don’t understand how Cal Expo, which is bleeding money ($2.6M in 2024, and halfway through 2025 $1.9, and just spent $22 M improving roofs and air conditioning systems, and, now will lose horse racing and the Sac Republic revenue next year, is in any strong financial position to contribute towards the building of a “Snapdragon type stadium.”

All reports indicate so far that the horse racing grandstand remains in place. I have watched many horse races and attended Country in the Park concerts there. For those events, a suitable venue, but for football, the seating is too low and too far back to watch.

The astroturf campaign for the Pac 12, and the roll of the dice on the FBS waiver with no apparent backup plan is teetering on its last legs. If not true, great, but perception is reality until proven otherwise.

All along, Dr. Wood has said FBS or Bust.

We are losing ground, except for the potential promise of a great 2025 football season; we are headed to an independent FCS schedule and an interruption of the Causeway Classic.

Good thing we will be in the Big West for when it does go officially Bust, and football goes the way of the dodo bird.

What we need now is a Miracle on J Street, which is right now feeling like a horror show.

https://bigskyfans.com/threads/athletic-facilities.13015/page-30#post-286388

WR's with great size and great speed are not easy to come by at the FCS level. Most of those elite players are taken quickly by FBS programs while smaller WR's with great speed are often overlooked by those programs.

I would rather have smaller WR's with great speed and quickness than bigger WR's who are not as fast. Sure, the taller WR's are a bigger target but, if they don't possess good speed and quickness, they're aren't as likely to be able to create as much separation as a smaller, faster receiver. Smaller receivers with great speed, quickness and good hands can create separation and get open which makes them just as good a target if not better. So I'm happy with smaller receivers who are speed burners...speed kills!

The weather forecast for the kickoff at 7 pm is 82 degrees with 76% humidity and a "feels like" temperature of 85 with a 15% chance of a thunderstorm.

Teddye Buchanan

“Lunches With The Ball Coach” Returns Monthly At Sudwerks

DAVIS, Calif. – Over the coming months, UC Davis football head coach Tim Plough will be spending an afternoon hosting "Lunches with the Ball Coach" at Sudwerks and fans can join him and special guests to learn more about the ins-and-outs of Aggie football.

"This is another chance for our Davis Community members and alumni to come and hear directly from myself on program updates and the inner workings of what we are doing," said Plough. "This program has always thrived on the support of the community and I enjoyed building strong ties with the Davis community, when we did this back during the winter. I'm excited to get back out to Sudwerks and meet everyone that has helped us put together a special program."

The first "Lunches with the Ball Coach" will be held on Thursday, Aug. 14 at 12 p.m. Please email Senior Associate Athletics Director, Sports Administration & Development Josh Flushman at jeflushmanatucdavisdotedu to register for this Thursday's event. Following scheduled lunches will be held on Sept. 11, Oct. 9, Nov. 13 and Dec. 11.

Each event costs $20 and fans are asked to pre-register by following this link or by emailing Flushman. Coach Plough and the Aggies can't wait to see the Davis community at Sudwerks every month through the season.

UC Davis opens 2025 on Aug. 23 in Montogmery, Ala., when they face No. 12 Mercer in the 2025 FCS Kickoff Classic. That game is set to kickoff at 4 p.m. PT and will be aired on ESPN and can be heard on Sactown Sports 1140. The Aggies open UC Davis Health Stadium on Sept. 20 when Southern Utah visits Davis for a 7 p.m. kick.[/quote

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2025/8/12/football-lunches-with-the-ball-coach-returns-monthly-at-sudwerks.aspx]

Sac has released their 2025-26 schedule. Their home games will be played at the newly renovated Well on campus.

https://hornetsports.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Those days are over for me too!

Unfortunately, I'll miss this one since we'll be in Paris. I'll have to watch the game on replay since the start would be 1 a.m. Paris time.

The final home game this year against Sac has the potential to draw the biggest crowd ever in Aggie history regardless of the records of the two teams. Emotions are going to be running high given all of the "in your face hype" that has been steadily coming out of Sac ever since they hired Brennan Marion and announced that it's "FBS or Bust" for them while saying that FCS programs, like the Aggies, are just playing "JV football."

The Ags are ranked #7 in the FCS Coaches Poll.



https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fcs/afca-fcs-coaches-poll

From Bob Dunning's Substack column:

Officially, the term is reserve/injured list, but it's commonly referred to as injured reserve or IR. Players are put on IR when they have a football-related injury that requires them to miss at least a few weeks. Players on IR don't count against the 53-man active roster limit, but their salaries count against the salary cap.

Players on IR must miss a minimum of four games. Teams may designate up to eight players to return from IR during the regular season (and up to 10 if a team makes the postseason). An individual player can be designated twice.

Once a player on IR is cleared to practice, they have 21 days to either be activated to the active roster or be placed on season-ending IR. They can also be released or traded.

Players who are placed on IR before the start of the regular season can miss the entire season, unless they are designated to return when the roster is trimmed to 53 players prior to the start of the season.

Before Larison's IR designation, Patriots insider Phil Perry released his 53-man roster projection early Sunday and it included Larison.

https://www.thewaryone.com/p/larison-placed-on-injured-reserve?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2582284&post_id=170659525&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Can't wait to see this group in action this fall!



More photos here:https://www.facebook.com/ucdavismbb

This is so disappointing especially after Lan played so well. I think he had a real shot at making the roster. He's so versatile and such a hard worker. Hope he heals up and comes back stronger next year.

Lan had a great game. Hope he isn't injured.

35 yards and 1 TD on 7 carries...longest for 16
2 receptions on 2 targets for 9 yards...longest for 9
1 KO return for 25 yards
- he was also playing on the KO team

I got a notice from ESPN+ a month ago or so that said that my annual ESPN+ subscription was going up to $119.99. The monthly subscription is $11.99 per month which would be $143.88 for 12 months.